


Through chords and lines

by ScribeAssistant



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst (just a bit), F/M, Fluff, Rayllum, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22313098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribeAssistant/pseuds/ScribeAssistant
Summary: Callum spends his days imagining stories - both mystical and mundane - for those he would see only in passing, but when a certain white-haired girl enters his life he will find himself more interested than ever in the reality of who she is.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

To Callum, his summertime job at the local grocery store had only two down points really: first, It was mid-summer, so it was excruciatingly hot inside the small store without a working air conditioning, and second, it was an eight to six job, which meant he couldn't spend his days sketching and playing games as he had originally planned for his summer break.

On the upside, however, it also meant he had a bit of extra cash of his own without resorting to his mother and he could be out of the house for a change. Not that it was exactly optional, but it definitely wasn't as bad as he expected.

The store he worked was relatively close to Katolis University, so even with summer break starting and many students leaving the city to spend some time with their families, many who lived at the dorms or near the campus still lingered in town - be it by choice or not - which guaranteed a constant influx of what Callum considered to be very interesting people from all across the world.

Now, saying that the customers were interesting didn't mean that Callum would strike any conversations beyond the absolute minimum to perform his work as a cashier - pleasantries and awkward small talk about the weather or prices. He _could_ talk to anyone he wanted, of course (or so he would say), but he just... preferred to keep it to himself most of the time.

Anyway, it wasn't what people said directly to him that made them interesting.

It was the small things. Mannerisms, preferences, accents, the expression they had when comparing prices, how they dressed or simply how they wandered the aisles after a long day, going about their lives. There was something that Callum thought to be inexplicably captivating about people when they weren't trying to be seen or trying to be someone else instead of just, well, being their regular selves, and he couldn't avoid wondering about who they were beyond the doors of the grocery store.

Before start working there two weeks prior, Callum's sketchbook was filled with drawings of his brother, his mother, videogame characters and a few of his school colleagues, occasionally a tentative sketch of his father, but now it was filled with strangers that felt more alive than anything else. Perhaps it would be an image that stuck to his head of them in the store going about their business, but most of his drawings were of them somewhere else entirely. Callum loved to create characters from the people he saw in their most mundane, honest moments. Through his pencil, they became mystical heroes, police officers, gardeners, teachers, astronauts, parents, photographers or anything else that he felt to match them.

Through his drawings, he gave full stories to those he would see only in passing. Every work was like a book in his head, complete with side characters and a theme song.

Today, however, as the day neared its end he was yet to find inspiration. It had been a pretty slow week in general, with more and more students leaving the campus and returning to their families.

He shot a glance at his sketchbook under the counter, wondering if he could work a bit on one of his previous drawings before starting to make things ready to switch his shift with Marcos. The boy was about to bring it up to the counter when the bell rang by the door, indicating a new costumer.

Callum turned his eyes to the door without thinking too much of it, a mechanic reaction he had pickup even in his short time working there. When he saw who walked in, however, it felt like he had forgotten how to breathe.

A girl, probably about his age, with perfectly white hair tied in a messy ponytail and violet eyes glued to her phone, wearing a green plaid shirt that seemed a bit too hot for summer and a large guitar bag hanging on her back. She walked into the store and grabbed a basket without ever looking up and Callum could notice a frown on her face as she stared the screen, probably unhappy with whatever she was reading.

Even with that, she still looked like the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and Callum counted himself lucky she didn't catch him staring.

The girl wandered slowly towards the aisles, still distracted before pocketing her phone with a heavy groan and started picking up a few items.

Callum did his best to at least _look_ busy, going through random receipts he had under his counter while trying to sneak a glance at the girl on every opportunity. The store was almost empty and the white-haired girl was clearly upset with something, so the last thing he wanted was to add to it by creepily staring.

She also seemed pretty tired by her slow movements and the way she constantly shifted the weight of the bag on her shoulders. 

Callum's mind began to wonder about who she was. Maybe a junior student? She sure seemed casual enough, but with no open classes, he doubted the girl was coming from the Uni right now. A glance at her ID card, still hanging attached to her jeans' pocket proved him wrong. She was too far away for him to read anything, but Callum recognized the colors as the same ones on his mother's card. Maybe she was an assistant teacher? It would make sense for her to still have work even without classes. Probably.

He watched as the girl walked further down the aisle closer to were Soren was refilling a shelf. They crossed eyes and exchanged a quick nod. Perhaps she was a regular? But in that case, how come he hasn't seen her in the store for two weeks?

Either way, Callum would definitely have a chat with Soren before leaving.

The bell chirped again as Marcos walked in, reminding Callum that he actually had work to get done before going home, so the boy started checking his register one last time. Working the outdated machine was easy enough, but it also meant that making sure the money and all receipts were on par was an entirely manual process.

He was almost done when he noticed the mysterious white-haired girl approaching by the corner of his eye, which made him almost drop the coins he had been counting. She had her eyes on her phone once again and was typing furiously before putting it away with another heavy sigh.

"Hey there!" he started, a bit louder than planned. "Err, did you find everything you were looking for?"

"Yes." The girl answered flatly as she started placing her items on the counter.

Callum didn't really have any expectations beyond a short answer from the girl, but he still found himself wanting for a bit more, especially because he could notice the slightest hint of an accent on her voice.

"Long day?" The boy pressed as he started scanning her groceries. Spaghetti, tomato sauce, and some other things. Maybe she was going for pasta tonight?

"Urgh, you wouldn't believe it" she answered after putting the basket away and looking up at him for the first time.

Callum's heart skipped a beat. The girl had beautiful, albeit unusual violet eyes. And she did have an accent. Scottish maybe?

"Oh, well, for me the days have been pretty slow here after classes ended so…" he trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with his sentence.

The girl stared him for maybe two seconds waiting for him to continue (out of politeness, probably) before looking away to start bagging her groceries.

"Oh," he picked back up "Your tag is still hanging on your pocket." he remembered, which caused the girl to immediately look down a put it away.

"Thanks," she responded with a hint of a smile. "I'm still not used to the thing."

"Oh, I totally get it!" he perked up. "On my second day here I walked back home still wearing this apron." he said, pulling on the blue fabric for emphasis.

The girl forced a very short laugh before awkwardly staring at him. It was only when Callum glanced to the side and noticed all items already bagged that he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Oh, yeah, right, it's $20.26 total." he said with a heat creeping up his neck.

The girl went for her back pocket before her eyes widened. She checked again and then her sides to no avail.

"Hold on," she said before pulling her bag and kneeling in front of it, frantically checking all pockets and compartments.

Nothing.

"Urgh I can't believe this!" she let out exasperatedly, checking her bag and pockets for a second and them third time.

"Everything ok?" Callum asked, looking over the counter.

"I must have forgotten my wallet at the class again" She answered, getting back up and pulling on her guitar bag. "I'm sorry…" She closed her eyes for a second. "I'm gonna put this stuff back." She resigned herself.

"Hmm, by 'class' you mean Katolis Uni?" he prodded.

"Yes." She answered picking up one of the bags.

"If you wanna go back and get your wallet, I can save these things for you." He offered, hopeful.

She pulled her phone to look at the time and sighed again. "The building is already locked by now."

"Can't you ask someone to open it for you?"

"I wished, but no. Trust me, I've tried before."

"Well…" He trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"It's okay, I'll come back tomorrow. Sorry." She forced a sad smile and started back towards the aisles.

Now, Callum couldn't really say what got into him, but he was speaking before he could think about it.

"Wait!" he called, waving the girl back. "You know what, I got this. You can pay me tomorrow."

"What?" The girl asked surprised. "N-no, you don't have to, it's fine." She answered hesitantly.

"It's no problem, really! Here," He pushed a button and with a solid 'ding' the register's tray slid open, which he promptly closed again. "See? All done."

The girl's expression was one of surprise at first but quickly turned to annoyance. "I said you didn't have to." She repeated, glaring at him

He let out a sheepish laugh "Oh, well, it's done!"

"Just cancel it" She demanded.

"Err, can't do it, sorry! You know how these old things are..." he scrambled.

"Then, I don't know, leave a note or something."

"Look, really, it's not a problem!" he said, trying to calm her down. "You said you were coming back tomorrow anyway right? Just pay me then."

The girl continued to look annoyed for a few moments and Callum started to consider his gesture has been a real mistake. I mean, it was surely impulsive, but it couldn't be that bad, right?

However, after a few more seconds of glaring her features relaxed with a sigh. "Are you sure about this?" She asked, surrendering.

"Yes!" he answered a bit too quickly. "I mean, yes, sure."

"Fine, in that case, thank you…"

He stared for a moment before understanding. 

"Callum! I'm Callum, err, hi!"

Even with her tired looks, this girl that was a literal stranger still had the power to make him forget how to function as a proper human being.

She must have enjoyed his bashful state however because this time she offered a small, genuine smile.

"Thank you, Callum, I'm Rayla, and you just saved me from eating a bread sandwich tonight" She joked and smiled again, sending his heart on another trip.

"I'll be back in the morning and pay you back, promise!" Said Rayla as she picked her bags back up and started towards the door.

Callum was left staring staggered as she left the store.

"You sure have a way with the ladies" Joked Soren from behind him, making Callum almost jump out of his skin"

"Whoa, hey, hey Soren! For how long have you been there?" The boy blurted out.

"Since morning, same as you." He mocked.

"No, I mean, yeah, but no. Were you listening?"

"It was a bit hard to miss you fumbling around Ms. Silence. Smooth move tho, trying to save her night and all" Said Soren with giving him a 'soft' punch to the shoulder.

"Ouch!" he cried. "Well, I don't think it was that much of a good idea. For a second I thought she was just going to leave everything and walk away."

"True," Soren answered. "but she didn't, so point for you!"

He tried to throw another friendly punch but Callum managed to save himself and dodge this time.

"Who is she, anyway?" He asked while getting back to work. It was already past 18 and he needed to make sure everything was for Marcos to take over.

"That interested, hm?" Soren teased, making Callum blush again and stammer.

"W-w-what? Me? No! No way! Nope! Just curious, just that!"

"Mhm… Not convinced." He drawled with a smug smile on his face.

"I'm serious! I saw you nod to her, so I thought you might know each other? Maybe?"

"Not really. She a regular tho, comes a bit later at night when she does." He said while bringing a basket of discarded items behind the counter. If Callum recalled right, Soren still had a couple of hours left on his shift.

"But it looks like we'll see her early tomorrow, right?" He started again teasingly, adding a wink to the end of his sentence.

Callum blushed again but didn't answer this time, focusing on finishing his job and going home. 

He shot another glance at his sketchbook. After a long day, he had finally found his inspiration for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fic for the TDP and it was a ton of fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy it! <3
> 
> As you probably noticed, English isn't my first language but I'm constantly trying to learn and improve it, so every feedback means A LOT to me. I try my best to review and edit every chapter to perfection, but if you find anything weird, misspelled or that just doesn't make sense AND can spare a few moments, please let me know! It truly helps me a lot to improve (dialogs and a different language can be exceptionally hard).
> 
> About the story itself, the modern setting was inspired by jelllytarts' "[i fell in love with you one night in september](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21530137)" and by enbyred's "[All About Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21965923)", so if you enjoyed this you should definitely go and give them some love too in case you haven't already.
> 
> Artist Callum is already canon, so it was relatively easy to explore a bit more into his motivations and how he sees the world. For Rayla, I knew I also wanted something on the artistic route but it had to be something that matched her character. It had to be something with a strong emotional connection that allowed her to express her feelings, creativity, and versatility in a somewhat pure way, more through actions than words, so music, especially instrumental, was what I decided to go with (enbyred also captures this really well by characterizing Rayla as a dancer, so one more reason to go and check their work!). I'll go a bit more in-depth about her style and motivations behind it in future chapters!
> 
> Anyway, that is all I have for you guys today, so please let me know your thoughts about it! (also, find me on tumblr as [thescribeassistant](https://thescribeassistant.tumblr.com/))


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to [spaceoutdreamer](https://spaceoutdreamer.tumblr.com/) for helping me edit this chapter!

"I'm home!" Called Callum as soon as he entered his apartment. The lights were off but the living room was still well lit enough by the TV, with sounds of an action-packed scene filling the space.

"Callum!" Ezran popped up from behind the couch as soon as his brother called, flashing him a great smile and excited eyes. "How was today?" the boy asked as he dropped back to his seat, scrambling for the remote to pause his show.

"Same as always" Answered Callum while walking around the couch to sink beside his brother. "Well… almost the same" he added, recollecting the final moments of his shift.

Callum spent the whole way back home replaying the short interaction with the white-haired girl - Rayla - in his head. She sure stood out from anyone else he knew, given that violet eyes and pure white hair weren't exactly common features. Were the colors even natural? He chose to believe they were.

She also seemed… Intense. But maybe it was because the girl was clearly in a bad mood. And then there was her accent too…

"Callum? Hellooo? Earth to Callum!" Called Ezran while waving his hand in front of his brother's eyes.

"Eh? Hm? Oh, hey, what?" He stammered while returning to reality.

"Are you ok? I asked what happened today and you just… sorta zoned out? Did you get abducted or something?" He asked, seeming maybe a bit too concerned with the actual possibility of aliens tampering with his brother's brain.

"What? No, no, I was just thinking about today… I met someone just before leaving the store."

"Really? Who?" Ezran asked, legitimately curious.

"A girl. I think she is a teacher or something at the uni mom works at."

"Uh!" Ezran perked up. "Did she know mom?"

"I'm only guessing really… We didn't really talk about it. Or anything, in fact." he answered sheepishly.

"Then… Why were you all distracted thinking about her?" Ezran shot him a suspicious look.

That was a pretty good question. ' _ She was really cute _ ' was the first thing that came to Callum's mind as an answer but he quickly shoved the thought aside.

"Oh? Err, no reason really" he answered while scratching the back of his neck. "She forgot her wallet so I just helped with her groceries."

"So… " Ezran started with narrowed eyes "You paid for a stranger that you've never seen before?"

"I think that's the definition for 'stranger', yes"

"Someone you have seen before can still be a stranger." He corrected, sounding a bit annoyed before continuing. "Anyway, that doesn't sound very smart"

"Don't worry, it was only like, 20 bucks and Soren said she is a regular. Aaaand, " he drawled. "She promised to pay me back tomorrow morning, so really, no big deal!" he finished confident, but Ezran didn't seem all that convinced.

"Right… Well, I hope she does." He started cautiously but brightened near the end. "And then you can figure out if she works with mom!"

"Speaking of mom," Callum recalled, "did she say what time she was coming home today?"

"Not really, she said she was working late today again. Another meeting with the teachers." answered Ezran, sounding deflated once more.

_ Again? _ Callum thought. He knew it was their mother's work and the same as every year, but that didn't make him any less worried. Summer break meant that teachers finally had time to focus on the other aspects of their work outside of the classroom, which, judging by the long hours their mother had to put in every year in the first two or three weeks of the break, was still a lot.

Callum ruffled his brother's hair, trying to cheer him up.

"Don't worry Ez, mom is always busy this first few days… I'm sure next week things will be back to normal" he said while flashing his brother a reassuring smile. "For now, let's get our dinner going."

The two brothers marched into the kitchen and Callum went straight for the freezer. Frozen lasagnas would do just fine for them today. Not that their mother would be very happy about them living off frozen food, but neither of them was too worried about that now.

Callum stuck the first one in the microwave and set the timer while Ezran climbed up to sit on the counter (another thing that their mother wouldn't be very pleased to hear about, but that, they could keep a secret)

"So," Callum started. "today was your first day on the extra theater classes, right?"

"Ooh that's right!" Ezran answered eagerly "We did kind of a full rehearsal today!"

"And how did that go, young, dashing prince?" Callum poked, remembering his brother's part in the play.

Ezran laughed and went along. "It was great! We did the whole thing for the first time today. Ellis used a basketball for the dragon egg."

Ezran was kicking his feet in excitement as he recalled his day and Callum was legitimately happy to see his brother so involved in something. For some reason, being in front of a crowd just suited him.

"I'm sure she's gonna be a great elf sidekick"

"Actually I think that  _ I am  _ her sidekick" Ezran wondered, thinking back on their characters. "Ahh, and how are the costume designs coming along? Can I see them?"

Callum had forgotten about that. "Err, I still have a bit of work to do on them."

Quite a bit actually, but calling it 'costume design' was a stretch. Callum had agreed to sketch a few costume ideas and models for his brother's play, but turning his drawings into something useful for actual costume making was up to someone else.

The two brothers kept talking about the play, characters and shows to fill their time and, after dinner, Callum went back to his room to try and work on the costumes. He had a long list of characters to work on and was still stuck on Ellis' elven assassin (how an assassin had found its way into a children's play was still up for debate in his head).

Callum kicked his shoes and flopped onto his bed, pulling up his sketchbook shortly after. His PC and tablet were great for working on the final product, but nothing could beat pencil and paper when it came to trying out new ideas.

He started throwing around a few simplistic sketches, just to have a feel of the cast. A few knights, a mage, a king, a dragon egg, an elf and two princes, some sort of… giant frog? and an actual baby dragon.

Callum was getting actually hyped for the play as he let his mind fly, exploring the characters and poses. At this point for him, drawing was all about emotion, trying to feel how everything could fall together and sound (or better, look) right.

His mind, however, soon started to drift away from the play and back to his life. Callum found himself wondering how things would be next year if he actually got accepted into university. Granted, things wouldn't change that much. He lived within walking distance from it and even knew how the place was, having visited it a few times along with his mom, but still… The idea of that new phase in his life was at the same time exciting and absolutely terrifying.

What if he wasn't good enough? What if he couldn't take the pressure? Callum had always dreamed of a life doing what he loved and his mother couldn't have been more supportive when he decided to pursue an art major, but still… What if he ended up not being good enough to actually make a living out of it after graduating? Would all that time and money (so much money) have gone to waste?

As he continued to sketch distracted, far away from his original topic, he asked himself how anyone could be sure of what they wanted to do. There were just too many what-ifs, too many options and possibilities and even more scenarios where everything ended up in failure. 

What if he spent the rest of life working at that small store? His mind and pencil took another leap and went to his workplace. Soren and Marcos were already enrolled and so was his friend Claudia, to whom he hadn't talked to in a while now that he thought about it. In reality, he didn't have all that many close friends to compare his own predicament to.

He started to draw the first lines of a shelf with someone crouched in front of it. Maybe the very first idea was for it to be Soren, but the image quickly took an entirely different form. A low ponytail, oversized plaid shirt and plain jeans, a big guitar case and sharp, albeit tired eyes scanning the prices.

For some reason, this girl with whom he had so briefly stumbled around was stuck in his head and kept coming back. Callum gave in to curiosity and continued to add details to his sketch, trying to recall the best of her features. 

That night Callum didn't get much work done on the costumes, but he did find something strangely soothing to draw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you SO MUCH for all the support and love <3
> 
> This chapter was a bit more focused on exploring Callum's motivations and fears regarding his art and his future. I also wanted to develop a bit more into his life and personality in general, just to make his character fell a bit more organic, so let me know what you think about the results!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
